"One thing about Gary is, he can do everyone's job better than you can," Alexander Ludwig, who played Katniss' archenemy Cato, told us at Nylon magazine's 13th anniversary party at Smashbox Studios in L.A. "It's an honor working with such a talented director. He is an unbelievable guy and an actor's director, which is amazing...Nobody could really do what Gary did. I honestly believe that 100 percent."

We actually broke the news to Jacqueline Emerson, aka Fox Face. "That makes me so sad," she said. "I'm sorry, I can't move on yet. I'm still in mourning. I don't know that anyone else could bring it to life the way that he did."

Dayo Okeniyi (Thresh) said, "I'm heartbroken. He was the perfect person for me for the first movie, because he has this great ability to do the indie thing with the blockbuster thing and I think everybody wants that combination."